Heena Sharma Blog

Loneliness , as a leading cause of depression and obesity, is believed to cost £6,000 per person in health and social care services. Loneliness is especially prevalent during the winter holidays, perhaps intensified by the short days, bad weather and the impression that everyone else is enjoying the festive season with family and friends. While loneliness is experienced by all ages, it is especially pronounced in older people. In the UK, 51% of all people aged 75 and over live alone and approximately 6% of older adults leave their house once a week or less. An increasing proportion of these older adults live in rural areas. In an age when services and information are increasingly available online, might technology play a role in addressing loneliness and social isolation ? Our research was conducted in South Lakeland – a rural community of Cumbria in Northern England. Residents aged 65 years and older account for 24.2% of the population here, against a national average

Students who are lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGB) are at a higher risk of self-harm when compared to heterosexual individuals, a recent study suggests. The research also shows that low self-esteem may explain the increased risk of self-harm in LGB students . Self-harm typically includes behaviour such as cutting, hair pulling, scratching, burning or non-lethal overdoses. "Young people's mental health is a national concern and this study confirms that lesbian , gay or bisexual young people have elevated rates of suicidality and self-harm compared with heterosexual youth. We know much less about how LGB young people seek help for their mental health problems, or what type of support would be effective," said Dr. Elizabeth McDermott, lead author of the study, which appeared in the journal of Archives of Suicide Research. Of the LGB students who completed an online questionnaire, 65 per cent had carried out non-suicidal self-harm over their lifetime compared